


so you were never a saint

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: tell my father (this is my life) [4]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because my kids deserve fluff, Character Study, Gay Male Character, Happy Ending, Happy middle, Healing, M/M, NO INCEST IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, No Apocalypse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, THE ONLY ONES WHO DIE ARE DAVE AND BEN, adapting to modern day, but you know..., dave interlude, dave is back, ghosts can have PTSD too Sharon, here be the second one, klaus is a disaster bi and dave is a functional gay, not alive but that's not stopping him, say it again kids, surprise appearance at the end of the story, the most adorable fucking couple, they come back, turns out i stan (2) ghost boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 04:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17932619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: Falling in love with Klaus was so easy in the heat of war. The fire in Klaus’ eyes, the magic in his lips, his fantastic stories, the kindness in his heart- there were a thousand and one reasons why Dave fell in love with the soldier who just so suddenly appeared in the middle of their encampment.Klaus’ stories- by Jove were they wonderful. He got a nickname from the company as Tall-Tale because his stories. Very few had believed his stories about superhero siblings and time travellers and robots. Dave, though, had believed every word he spoke. He'd spent many a night talking to Klaus about his family, getting to know everything he could about such a brilliant man.Is it any wonder that they'd fallen in love?-Being dead has its advantages and disadvantages. He doesn’t breathe or eat anymore unless he feels like it, which is kinda weird, but he knows he can’t die again, though, which in its own strange way is reassuring. He had a good, honorable death in battle, and he thinks (with the exception of breaking Klaus’ heart) he went out pretty well.So as long as he can spend the rest of his (undead) life with Klaus, he's happy with how things have gone.





	so you were never a saint

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "State of Grace" by Taylor Swift.
> 
> My original plan for this series had been just to do a story for each of the Hargreeves siblings, but then I remembered that I *stan* Dave and Klaus' relationship and I love my ghost boy, so I decided to flesh him out a bit (no pun intended).  
>    
> This one is a little more graphically descriptive as the main character did die in war and everything, but you know, it does have more Dave/Klaus moments than any of the fics thus far, so take the good with the bad, right.

_You come around and the armor falls_

_Pierce the room like a cannonball_

_This is a state of grace_

_This is the worthwhile fight_

_Love is a ruthless game_

_Unless you play it good and right_

_This is the golden age of something good and right and real_

_-_ **_State of Grace_ , Taylor Swift**

 

Falling in love with Klaus was so easy in the heat of war. The fire in Klaus’ eyes, the magic in his lips, his fantastic stories, the kindness in his heart- there were a thousand and one reasons why Dave fell in love with the soldier who just so suddenly appeared in the middle of their encampment.

Klaus’ stories- by Jove were they wonderful. He got a nickname from the company as Tall-Tale because his stories. Very few had believed his stories about superhero siblings and time travellers and robots, and the amused gleam in Klaus' eyes had said that he didn't much care if people believed him or not.

Dave, though, had believed every word he spoke. Dave knew what a liar looked like- his father had never quite gotten that fibbing gleam out of his eye his whole life long- and that wasn't Klaus. He'd spent many a night talking to Klaus about his family, getting to know everything he could about such a brilliant man.

Is it any wonder that they'd fallen in love?

-  
  
Being back from the dead is a somewhat strange thing, especially given what year he was brought back into.

When he wakes up in the present day, Dave takes a little bit to adjust to the idea that though he's dead, he is able to talk and spend time with Klaus.

He soon learns that being dead has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s really easy to have a private conversation with Klaus, after all, but it's also kinda lonely as there's no guarantee of anyone save Ben at his side. He doesn’t breathe or eat anymore unless he feels like it, which is kinda weird, but he knows he can’t die again, though, which in its own strange way is reassuring. He had a good, honorable death in battle, and he thinks (with the exception of breaking Klaus’ heart) he went out pretty well.

So as long as he can spend the rest of his (undead) life with Klaus, he's happy with how things have gone.  
  
-

Klaus’ siblings are...well, a lot. Dave doesn’t think that there’s a word in the English language that could encompass everything that they are, with all of their habits and powers and the way they interact with each other. How exactly do you put into words a group of people that contain a thirteen-year-old time-travelling assassin, an astronaut with the body of an ape, an actress with a scarred throat, a woman whose violin can literally destroy the world, a knife-wielding modern day Batman with a stutter, a dead boy who can summon monsters, and, of course, Klaus himself, who's the only reason that Dave is here today as he can summon the dead. Dave's a decently intelligent guy, but shit, there's a lot to describe. 

Dave likes all of Klaus’ siblings for their own reasons. He knows Ben the best, of course, as he can always talk to him regardless of whether Klaus' powers are at their strongest or not. Ben’s kinda quiet, probably quieter than any of Klaus’ siblings save Vanya. He only really argues with anyone when Klaus, as wonderfully reckless as always, is about to make a stupid decision.

Dave's spent a decent amount of time with Vanya, considering the fact that the nights when Dave's not sleeping in Klaus' bed, Vanya's the one cuddling with Klaus. He appreciates the fact that Klaus and Vanya keep each other grounded, that they help each other deal with the effects of their powers.

(He especially appreciates the fact that Vanya destroys the mausoleum that Klaus had once told such a haunting horror story about, back in 'Nam.)

He's had one or two conversations with Allison, and she seems nice enough. She's rather protective of her siblings, which he can appreciate. (He didn't have any siblings back home, but the protective ties he built in 'Nam and in the army feel somewhat relatable.)

Diego's an ex cop who currently moonlights as a superhero, taking down criminals and protecting the innocents- Dave can definitely support that. He's a rather grumpy man, but considering the story Klaus mentioned a few days after Dave appeared, the one about his detective friend dying, Dave understands.

Five probably has probably had the closest experience to war out of any of the Hargreeves siblings save Klaus. Dave's heard some stories about his time in the apocalypse, about the forty years he spent there before the five years he spent on his assassin job. He's got nothing but sympathy for the horrors he knows that Five must have seen. 

(Dave heard the story, once, about how Five saw the dead bodies of his siblings in the future. He tries to imagine seeing Klaus' dead body and shudders. There are certain things that he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy, and the nightmares caused by something like that are one of those things.

The idea that Five had to see that the first time he turned thirteen, when he was still a child- Dave pities the poor guy.)

Dave's yet to have a one-on-once conversation with Luther yet, so he's got mixed feelings about the man. Dave's not one to make hasty decisions, so he's not going to pass judgement yet, but he knows there are some things that Luther's done that Dave has a hard time forgiving. Klaus  _did_ eventually tell him about the whole isolated-on-the-moon thing, so he does have a certain amount of sympathy for the first Hargreeves. But he still has his reservations, nonetheless.

In general, Dave has accepted that he’ll never truly know all the damage the Hargreeves siblings went through. He accepts that no matter what, there will always be memories too haunting to revisit. And he gets it- there are some things about his father and the things he did during his drunken binges that he'll never share with anyone. There are some cigarette burns that he will never explain, though he certainly gets closer with Klaus than he ever has with anyone else before.

At the end of the day, Dave just knows three things about this family and this time for certain. One, that he hates Reginald Hargreeves for the ghosts that haunt Klaus and his siblings’ eyes. Two, that while a lot of the future confuses him, soda still tastes just as good as it did back in Ohio.

And three, that he loves Klaus with everything he has.

-

Klaus’ lips in this time taste like something stale and strawberry rather than cigar smoke and alcohol. Dave’s gotta say that he kinda prefers it.

“What’s that on your lips?” Dave asks as they curl up in bed.

Klaus grins, showing off that somehow still perfect mouth of teeth. “Lipstick. You like?”

Klaus in heels, a dress, or a skirt is kinda awesome (and rather gorgeous) if Dave lets himself admit it. He never got to see men dressed like that back in small town Ohio or Vietnam, but dressing like that makes Klaus smile and there’s nothing Dave wants more than that. The lipstick is the same, too- it may be something Dave’s never seen on a guy, but Klaus has always been unique like that.

“It’s you,” Dave says, “Of course I do.”

"Aw, you charmer," Klaus says, leaning in to kiss Dave again.

-

When he’s not in the living world with Klaus, he dreams. He dreams of blood and the roar of gunfire and the stench of the battlefield.

Dave remembers dying. He remembers Klaus pleading for him to stay, his shouts for a medic. He remembers the sheer pain as the round hit his chest. 

Whenever he turns corporeal and changes his clothes, he has to stare at what’s left of the wound in his chest. Grace, Klaus’ mom, stitched him up a bit, but it’s kind of hard to find a reason to justify giving him blood or anything as he’s already dead. Still, it’s kinda nice not to constantly have to stare at the bloodstain or the gaping wound.

And, the most striking thing about the wound, whether bloody and gaping or stitched and clean, is that Klaus doesn't ever seem to care. His hand finds its way onto Dave's chest and torso just as easily as it does his back or arms or butt, caressing Dave's skin just as lovingly no matter where his hand ends up.

-

There are some aspects of this time that Dave doesn't quite get. Some of the music isn't quite understandable, and some of it is. He has no idea how to operate a computer or a cell phone, is confused by certain TV shows and societal expectations. Some of the slang could easily be Russian to Dave.

But Klaus is patient, explaining the future to Dave as patiently as he explained the army and Vietnam to Klaus. He talks Dave through the adaption issues, the technology differences, the change in society. He explains things like sexual orientation and iPhones and Netflix, and Dave will drink it in like a dying man (pun not intended, no matter how many times Klaus makes the same joke).

-

Dave hates having to watch Klaus' cravings and the days where more ghosts than just him and Ben show up. Dave knows that the pain that Klaus is going through is strictly just so that the two of them can be together, and he hates that he is the indirect cause of so much pain for the man he loves.

"You, dear," Klaus says when Dave voices his worries, "Are the most wonderful idiot I've ever met. I love you far more than I do the drugs." 

"But the ghosts that haunt you," Dave says. "They freak you out. They hurt you."

"They don't bother me very much when you're here," Klaus says, tapping Dave's knuckles with his fidgeting hands. Dave's always loved how much energy Klaus has, the way he never seems to stop moving. It's not a drug thing, either, Dave knows. "And besides, Ben and Vanya and everyone else are helping me out with the whole fear-of-ghosts thing. I'm getting better, Dave."

Dave smiles. "Just...let me help you as much as possible, okay? Whatever you need, I'm here."

"The fact that you're here is enough," Klaus says, then smirks. "But a kiss wouldn't hurt."

Dave leans in a little closer. "That's what I'm here for, love." Then they're kissing and it's just like old times, but this time without the fear of being caught.

-

So some nights are bad, full of nightmares and half-muted screams and Klaus shaking from bad cravings. There are midnights when Klaus and Dave will wake up and not know what year they're living in- Dave more than Klaus, but the war doesn't leave Klaus' brain either.

But other nights are actually good. There are nights were he and Klaus will make out for hours, where Klaus will take him on tours of the grounds and the city.

They go to a veterans' bar, once. It's not the one that Klaus ended up at after Dave's death (Klaus has filled him in on that story, and Dave's heart had broken a little thinking about the amount of pain Klaus must have been in), but it is one full of people who understand what Klaus and Dave went through in a way that the Hargreeves siblings don't entirely get.

Dave finds out about all the wars and conflicts that good ol' America has been dragged into since 'Nam, the conflicts in Iran and Afghanistan and Thailand and the Persian Gulf. It's kind of insane, just how much shit America's put itself into. Looks like the protests didn't really do much to stop America dragging itself into war.

There's a certain sense of camaraderie, though, with these men. Dave and Klaus can talk about the feeling of being gunned down, show off the scar on Klaus' thigh and the stitches on Dave's chest, discuss nightmares and flashbacks and the sense of uncertainty when waking up, and have people understand where they're coming from. It's almost freeing, being able to so openly talk like this.

Then there's one night where Klaus' hands glow, just as they usually do, and he promises that Dave and Ben should be corporeal for at least four hours. Ben puts on the music and Dave finds himself dancing with his boyfriend and the other Hargreeves siblings.

This night is a really good one. For every dance he has with a Hargreeve, he has another with Klaus. And as along with nearly everything Klaus does, he has a talent for dancing.

The number of things that Klaus can do is honestly astounding. Shoot a gun accurately, dance, commune with the dead, kiss, play chess- Klaus is incredibly talented at so much. If Dave was a less comfortable person, he'd probably be a bit jealous. Instead, he's just proud that the man he loves is someone so wonderful.

Dave finds himself dancing with Ben at one point, one dead man with another, and he's gotta admit that despite the strangeness of this whole evening, with Vanya's spiraling lights and Five's time jumps and Ben and Dave's, well, existence, this is better than any bar he danced in with Klaus in Vietnam. It's almost better than the vets' bar that they went to last week, if he's being honest.

Dave has never had a family before, and now he has one, for all of its quirks. And he can't help but love it.

-

When they get to L.A.- and it's insane, how many things are different and yet how many things are the same, his L.A. to the Hargreeves', and a week and a half into their visit to Klaus' sister's house, a new person joins them.

A young woman with a bloodstain in nearly the same place as Dave's used to be appears one day at the kitchen table. She's wearing a jacket and a gun holster at her waist, a badge on her chest splattered in blood.

"Nice to see you, Detective," Klaus says genially, setting down a mug of tea in front of her.

"I'm dead, aren't I," the woman says, taking the mug, and it's not even a question. She already knows what's going on.

Klaus nods. "Sorry about that, I am."

"If it makes you feel any better, ma'am," Dave says, raising a hand, "I am too. So is Ben, here." Ben waves, and the Detective's eyes widen.

"My boyfriend, Dave," Klaus says, gesturing to Dave. "He's from 1969."

"We met in 'Nam," Dave says, and the Detective's jaw drops.

"You fought in Vietnam?"

Dave nods. "Both of us did. I died on the front lines."

"And now he's back," Klaus says, jovial as if the subject didn't once break his heart, and Dave's pretty glad that they're able to move on. "Good times, right?"

The front door opens and Diego enters, newspaper in hand. Dave raises an eyebrow- he's never seen Klaus' grumpy brother reading the news before.

The newspaper doesn't really seem to matter, though, as Diego drops it as soon as he sees the woman. "Holy shit," he says, "P-Patch. You-you're here."

The detective- Patch, Dave guesses- smiles. "I'm pretty sure it was your brother's handiwork."

Diego smiles at Klaus and Klaus smiles back, and Dave is so fucking proud of his boyfriend. "Now, Dave and I have got plans today," Klaus says, despite the fact that they do not, in any capacity, have plans made. "So we're gonna let you two hang out. Detective, you should have about five hours being corporeal where Diego can see you, so make the most of it." Klaus grabs Dave's hand and pulls him out the door, mug still in Dave's free hand. Ben follows behind, hands in his pockets.

"Is she Diego's girlfriend?" Dave asks once the front door is closed, taking a sip of his tea. He doesn't experience hunger or thirst so he has no idea where the liquid goes, but he likes the taste so he continues to drink it. Can't really do any damage, can it?

"God if any of us know," Ben says with a snort.

"I just want the poor grump to be happy," Klaus says, and Dave smiles. Klaus is so kind, far kinder than the world to ask of him considering everything he's gone through.

Ben groans. "You too can't help staring at each other like you hung the sun."

"Well, he did bring me back from the dead, so..." Dave points out, and Klaus shrugs. Dave realizes that his wonderfully attired boyfriend is only wearing a long red skirt under a dramatic black coat and literally nothing else, but he doesn't blink. Klaus has a unique sense of style that he defines as much as it defines him, and Dave wouldn't ask him to change for nothing.

"All in a day's work, man," Klaus says with a grin, and Dave just has to lean in and kiss him. That's another new things about this time, too- the ability to kiss in the daylight, outside of the backrooms of bars and back alleys. Dave's gotta admit that he likes it better a lot better than hiding.

"So, what  _are_ your plans for the day?" Ben asks, clearly done trying to stop them. Dave's learned over the past month or so that that's kinda Ben's thing: unless it's a life or death situation, his resistance tends to be minute if existent in the first place.

"Oh, fuck if I know," Klaus admits with a shrug. "Thought it'd be more fun if we figured it out as we go."

"Do you have  _any_ idea of where we're going?" Ben asks, "Or even a G.P.S.?"

Klaus pulls his phone out of- well, Dave's not sure where, as he doesn't believe the skirt Klaus is borrowing from Allison has any pockets. "I've got Google Maps and a craving for donuts?"

Well, that's one craving Dave can get behind. He holds up his mug. "Can I bring this with us, or would you recommend leaving it behind?"

"Set it on the railing," Klaus says, gesturing to the wide banister lining Allison's front porch, and Dave obliges before returning his hand to Klaus'.

"Lead the way," Dave says with a smile.

"You're gonna regret that," Ben says, and Dave shakes his head, locking eyes with Klaus.

"Never will," Dave says, and it's the truth. He will never regret a thing, not when it comes to Klaus.

(Dave adores the man, _loves_ the man, too much to regret a goddamn thing.)

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has noticed, I've been trying to push the story just a little further time-wise with each story, each story adding another week or so onto the end of the chain of events. I have no idea where things are going, honestly, though I do have a general idea of what order in which I'm gonna do each of the character focuses. Do you guys think this way of storytelling makes sense/is effective? It's the easiest way for me to expand this 'verse and give character backstories.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys liked this one! As always, please leave kudos/comments if you enjoyed, and if you didn't, then constructive criticism is always appreciated! Comments are a writer's lifeblood and really propel the story forward.


End file.
